Police have arrested Siddharth Sonawane from Kalyan in connection with the murder of Santosh Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog in Beed district. According to reports, Sonawane is accused of providing the location of Deshmukh to the assailants before the murder.
The arrest came after the Special Investigation Team (SIT) took over the case, which had been under investigation by the local crime branch (LCB). On Saturday morning, the SIT detained Sudarshan Ghule and Sudhir Sangal, two other suspects who had been absconding for several days.
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According to regional media reports, Sonawane, who had stayed in the village for a few days following the murder, was also present at Deshmukh’s funeral. Police initially suspected that someone close to Deshmukh may have shared his whereabouts before he was abducted. After learning that police were investigating the person who provided the location, Sonawane fled the village two days after the incident.
Reports indicates that Sonawane went into hiding in Mumbai and used five different SIM cards during this time. Once the LCB tracked his location, they laid a trap and arrested him while he was working on a cane cart in an open courtyard in Mumbai.
This arrest is expected to bring further clarity to the investigation into Deshmukh’s murder. Three other suspects, Jairam Chate, Mahesh Kedar, and Prateek Ghule, have already been arrested. Krishna Andhale remains absconding.